Pakistani Citizen Admits Naved Is Son, Fears For Family

Pakistan's claims that the militant captured in Wednesday's attack in Udhampur is not a citizen of the country rang hollow after reporters managed to speak to a person who claimed to be his father.

“I’ll be killed. The Lashkar is after us and the fauj (army) is after us,” said Mohammad Yakub over phone from Faisalabad in Pakistan, according to a Hindustan Times report. His son, Mohammad Naved, was captured by Indian security forces. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is one of the largest active terror organisations based out of Pakistan, and accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Yakub, who spoke in Punjabi, was worried about his family, HT reported. "They probably wanted him dead and not caught alive. Please spare him,” he is quoted as saying. He also accepted that he was the 'unfortunate father' of Naved.

Naved, also known as Usman Khan, had ambushed a Border Security Force (BSF) convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur with his accomplice Momin Khan, who was killed in retaliatory fire. Two Indian soldiers were also killed, and 14 other injured. Preliminary questioning of Naved revealed that both militants were from Pakistan.

Naved also claimed in a media interaction that he was working with LeT, and belonged to Faisalabad in Pakistan. He is the first suspected Pakistani terrorist to be captured alive after Ajmal Kasab, who was caught during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Kasab was subsequently hanged to death.

Pakistan has denied that Naved is a resident of the country, and termed Indian claims as "unwarranted and unsubstantiated." India will raise this issue when national security advisor Ajit Doval meets his counterpart Sartaj Aziz later in August.